What we’re reading.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Alberto Musalem. Monetary policy. “St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem discussed the importance of the Fed’s regional structure and shared his views on the U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy at an event in Paducah, Ky. He gave a speech, “Remarks on the U.S. Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy,” and participated in a moderated Q&A at the event, which was hosted by the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater Paducah Economic Development.”
“To sum up, the U.S. economy is continuing to expand, but the pace of growth appears to have moderated. There is more work to do to bring inflation down to our 2% target and I am committed to doing so.
And that is why I supported the FOMC’s decision last week to leave its target range for the federal funds rate unchanged and maintain a modestly restrictive policy stance. A patient and vigilant approach will help us as we seek maximum employment, price stability and a durable economic expansion for the American people.” —Alberto Musalem, President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Legal note: Monetary policy defined in law. “The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” — 12 USC 225(a).
In other words, monetary policy is a set of tools (an action plan) used by a nation’s central bank to control the overall money supply and promote economic growth and employ strategies such as revising interest rates and changing bank reserve requirements. — Investopedia.
Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond. CFO surveys. “Economic optimism among chief financial officers dropped in the first quarter of 2025 amid concerns about tariffs and broader economic uncertainty, according to the CFO Survey, a collaboration of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta.
“Uncertainty and trade policy were clearly on the minds of CFOs in the first quarter CFO Survey,” said Sonya Ravindranath Waddell, vice president and economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “Not only did almost one-third of respondents report concerns about tariffs, but those respondents had notably lower optimism, lower expectations for GDP growth, lower expectations for revenue and employment growth, and higher expectations for price growth in 2025.” — Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
The data.
Foreign exchange per the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
EUR/USD=1.0806
GBP/USD=1.2896
USD/JPY=148.9800
Administered rates per the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Discount Window: 4.50%
Effective Federal Funds Rate: 4.33%
Interest on Reserve Balances: 4.40%
Overnight Reverse Repurchase Facility Rate:4.25%
Reference Rates per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Effective Federal Funds Rate:4.33%
Overnight Bank Funding Rate: 4.33%
Secured Overnight Financing Rate:4.33%
Broad General Collateral Rate:4.31%
Tri-Party General Collateral Rate:4.31%
Foreign exchange per the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
USD/XCD=2.70
GBP/XCD=3.48449
EUR/XCD=2.91573
CAD/XCD=1.89467
JPY/XCD=0.01799
KWD/XCD=8.75529
AED/XCD=0.73509
CNH/XCD=0.37168
Administered rates per the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
ECCB Discount Rate: 3.0%
ECCB Call Rate: 2.4%
ECCB Fixed Deposit Rate (one month): 2.8%
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